Manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers, distribution centers, and other distributors of product or goods (which may collectively be referred to as distributors) typically maintain an inventory of various items that may be ordered by and shipped to clients or customers. This inventory may be maintained and processed at a materials handling facility or facilities such as distribution centers, cross-docking facilities, and order fulfillment facilities. FIG. 1 illustrates a broad view of the operations of a conventional distributor. Multiple customers 10 may submit orders 20 to the distributor, where each order 20 specifies one or more items from inventory 30 to be shipped to the customer that submitted the order. At order fulfillment 40, the orders may be separately processed by the enterprise to fulfill the customer orders 20. The one or more items specified in each order may be retrieved or “picked” from inventory 30 in the materials handling facility. The picked orders may then be packed and shipped 50 to the customers 10. Note that a shipped order does not necessarily include all of the items ordered by the customer; a shipped order may include only a subset of the ordered items available to ship at one time from one inventory-storing location. Typically, the customer is billed for the items(s) in the order and for charges related to shipping the order to the customer.
The increasing scope of network-based commerce, fueled by the ubiquity of personal computers, the Internet, and the World Wide Web, has resulted in striking changes to the ways customers may shop for and purchase products from distributors. Virtual storefronts, which may be referred to as network sites or web sites, in which customers may view product information including features, specifications, appearance, pricing, availability, have become commonplace even among wholesalers and retailers who have maintained physical customer presences (e.g., “brick-and-mortar” storefronts). Much commerce is already being conducted exclusively through network sites by product distributors lacking any other customer presence. Electronic commerce using virtual storefronts may offer many advantages, such as lower cost overhead (e.g., due to lack of sales personnel, lack of physical storefronts, highly automated ordering processes, etc.), and a potential customer base limited only by the reach of the Internet. A product distributor that provides a “storefront” for customers exclusively through a network site, or the portion of a product distributor that provides a network site for customers while the distributor maintains physical customer presences, may be referred to as a network enterprise.
FIG. 2 illustrates an example conventional network enterprise that provides a “virtual storefront” to customers via a network site. Multiple customers 110, through access to the Internet 100, may order one or more items from the network enterprise 102 via a network site 104 serving as a “virtual storefront” for the product distributor. The network site 104 may generate orders 120 for the customers, where each order 20 specifies one or more items from inventory 130 to be shipped to the customer that submitted the order. The orders may be processed 140 by the product distributor to fulfill the customer orders 120. The one or more items specified in each order may be retrieved or “picked” from inventory 130 in a materials handling facility. The picked orders may then be packed and shipped 150 to the customers 110. Typically, each individual customer order is separately picked, sorted, packed, and shipped. Typically, the customer is separately billed 106 for the items(s) in each separate order and for charges related to shipping each order to the customer.
In conventional order fulfillment systems, the items in an order are generally packed and shipped in cardboard boxes, shipping envelopes, or other such shipping materials, and often contain filler materials such as Styrofoam “peanuts” or bubble wrap. After receiving an order, the customer must open the package(s) and dispose of the packaging, for example by breaking down and disposing of the boxes, throwing away the filler materials, and so on.
While embodiments are described herein by way of example for several embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that embodiments are not limited to the embodiments or drawings described. It should be understood, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit embodiments to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include,” “including,” and “includes” mean including, but not limited to.